


Pulse

by gillywulf



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, First Time, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 10:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2769233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gillywulf/pseuds/gillywulf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For most of Korra's life, she ignored the smudge on her wrist that would one day spell out the name of her true love. Asami's only ever said 'Korra'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pulse

They called the names on their wrists 'pulses'. It was romantic and childish, thought up by the youth. Publicly, adults scorned it, but as soon as they were alone with their pulses, they would whisper the word into one anothers skin.

For most of a person's life, the names were mere smudges on the skin on their wrists. The closer they got to falling in love with their pulse, the darker it became. Some people spent their whole lives with their pulses dark and legible. They spent their days constantly searching and nervous.

Korra hated the whole idea and kept her wrists constantly covered. She always said that when she fell in love, it would be on her own terms, not some mysterious force of nature. And that was fine for a time. But then she went to Republic City.

One look at Mako in the pro-bending arena and she was head over heels. He was handsome and cool and she could pretend that he was her pulse. The night after the gala, she sat alone waiting for Amon to accept her challenge. She drew her knees up to her chest and frowned at her covered right wrist. She picked at the wristband nervously. She knew that if she looked, it would be just as terrifying to see Mako's name as not to see it. She sighed and dropped it. She would save that for another day.  
  
"I really like you and I think we’re meant for each other!" had been a truly embarrassing thing to say at the worst possible time. Really, because she was wrong. Their relationship tanked quicker than flying bison in the ocean. They were in no way meant for each other.

But it was fine, because suddenly she was friends with Asami and the world seemed a thousand times brighter. The more they hung out, the more she absently picked at her pulse. She didn't know why and evaluating it would be too scary, so she didn't.

Asami cornered her on the zeppelin to argue about her decision to give herself up, but Korra tuned her out almost immediately. Her eyes shone brightly in her anger and that little nook between her eyes was so cute when her eyebrows drew together. Her dark lips moved rapidly and Korra couldn't resist leaning forward to kiss them.

The fight died immediately, turning instead to a different passion. Asami moved against her like the whole world was on fire and Korra was the only source of water. It was quick and rough and _dirty_ and no where near enough. When they finished, she sweetly kissed the taller girl's cheek and went back to her temporary room.

She sank against the wall and gripped her wrist. There was no way she could look at it then, not with Zaheer looming over them like a guillotine. And then everything she was collapsed the moment the poison seeped through her skin.

For three years, she pretended that she didn't even have a pulse, even when she could see the clear concise lines out of the corner of her eye sometimes. She refused to acknowledge it. But laying eyes on Asami after three years nearly undid everything.

After saving Wu and heading back to Air Temple Island with Asami, Korra laid in bed, staring at the back of her hand. She tapped her middle finger against the bedspread. If she looked, there would be no going back. She chewed the inside of her cheek. Without letting herself make a real decision, she flipped it.  
  
~~~  
  
Asami had grown up with the name 'Korra' dark and fine against her pulse. She hid it from people as best she could. She wanted Korra to be _hers_ alone, even if it was just her name.

When she was fourteen, Korra made the cover of the papers for the first time. It was just a simple expose about the new Avatar and how her training was coming along, accompanied by two pictures of her, one in action - fire exploding from her foot as she wailed confidently against her opponent - in the second, she was leaning heavily into her hand as she listened to a lecture of some sort. Her eyes were slightly bored and her lips were set in a pout and Asami felt her heart shudder in her chest.

This was her Korra.

But she lived on the other side of the world and the article made it seem like she wasn't going to be leaving there any time soon. So naturally, her arrival in Republic City caused a stir. But it still frustrated Asami because there was still no opportunity to meet her.

Deciding to crash into Mako was the best idea she had ever had. She had recognized him the moment he had stepped into the street, and even though the plan was half formed, she knew it would work.

It was barely two days later that the Avatar was scowling in front of her, making her heart beat erratically. She couldn't help but brush the pulse on her wrist as they talked awkwardly. It was difficult watching her boyfriend be in love with her. It wasn't as if Asami was in love with him - she liked him well enough - but her will to keep Korra to herself had never gone away and all he wanted to do was hide her far from Asami.

She hated seeing him fawn all over the Avatar when Naga returned her to them, exhausted and injured from Tarrlok's captivity. She wanted to be doing that, but she knew that if she tried it, Korra would shy away, confused and unaccepting. So she waited.

Eventually their respective relationships with Mako ran their course and she was allowed to actually be friends with her. Giving Korra the keys to her satomobile was more for her own sake really, as it gave her a chance to watch her unimpeded.

They talked freely and easily and she forced herself not to brush at her pulse, even when she wanted so much to pull up her sleeve and shove it in Korra's face saying "here, look at this. I've been meant for you my whole life, please realize you were meant for me" even when the girl called her the only girlfriend she'd ever had. It was sad in a way, and she wanted to squeeze her hand and tell her that she'd never leave, not even if Korra screamed at her and told her to leave her forever, no, not even then.

She hadn't meant to chase after Korra in the zeppelin. It was an uncontrollable impulse of the moment where every single one of her thoughts was clouded by terror. Korra might not come back to her. The thought filled her up and made the air around her feel more like poison. She found that she couldn't fill her lungs fast enough. Was she turning into a fish? It seemed likely.

The suddenly feeling of Korra's mouth against her own blew all of the fear behind her like ash. The texture of her skin was as intoxicating as the warmth of her fingers as they traveled the length of her body. She knew it was desperate and a last chance, but she took it because like all fish, she needed water.

The soft kiss Korra pressed to her cheek as she left felt like a promise. As to what she didn't know. A promise to come back? A promise of to be continued? The possibilities kept her up far longer than they should have.

The next three years felt like those few moments of breathlessness on the zeppelin. She touched the pulse often in those days. The consistency of feeling like a fish out of water made it feel like the entire ocean crashed into her when Korra came back. Suddenly she was alive and thriving, the girl she was meant for beside her, feeling strong. It was like a dream come true when she laid down in her bed at the Air Temple and traced Korra's ever present name.  
  
~~~  
  
"Asami, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Always"  
  
"Who is your pulse?"  
  
"That's a personal question, are you sure you want to ask?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"It's you. My whole life it's been you"  
  
"That's good to hear"  
  
"Korra, could I ask yours?"  
  
"Why would you need to? Who else could it possibly be?"


End file.
